Property of a titled gentleman
1934 Rolls-Royce 20/25hp Limousine

• Sold new to the The Hon Alice Nivison, daughter of 1st Lord Glendyne
• Present ownership since 2013
• Extensively recommissioned 2014-2015 (approximately £100,000 spent)
• Raised final drive gearing

The introduction of a smaller Rolls-Royce, the 20hp, in 1922 enabled the company to cater for the increasingly important owner-driver market. Its successor, the 20/25hp, introduced in 1929, up-dated the concept with significant improvements, featuring an enlarged (from 3.1 to 3.7 litres) and more-powerful version of the Twenty's six-cylinder overhead-valve engine. Produced contemporaneously with the Phantom II, the 20/25 benefited from many of the features, such as synchromesh gears and centralised chassis lubrication, developed for the larger model, and would become the best-selling Rolls-Royce of the inter-war period.

The Rolls-Royce 20/25hp was, of course, an exclusively coachbuilt automobile, and most of the great British coachbuilding firms offered designs, many of them unique, on the 20/25hp chassis. Off test on 10th February 1934 and registered as 'VV 2802', chassis number 'GUB51' carries formal limousine-with-division coachwork by the respected Northampton firm of Arthur Mulliner, a coachbuilder of the highest order whose designs were favoured by wealthy clients able to afford the finest chassis available.

In this car's case the purchaser was the The Hon Alice Nivison, daughter of 1st Lord Glendyne (and an ancestor of our titled vendor). The latter purchased the Rolls-Royce from The Real Car Company, which had bought it at a UK auction in October 2013. At that time the car was said to have last been MoT'd in 1985 and was being sold requiring extensive recommissioning.

Works carried out during 2014-2015 include the following: engine rebuild; magneto serviced; suspension serviced throughout; brakes rebuilt; front bench seat re-stuffed and upholstered in black leather; electrics rewired; wings repaired and repainted; front dashboard replaced in walnut. All of the aforementioned works were carried out by Milford Engineering in Scotland, while A & S in Alton cleaned and re-stuffed the rear seat and rebuilt the brakes (again). In addition, the car has been fitted with a more modern dynamo and a raised final drive ratio for more relaxed cruising. The vendor estimates the total amount spent to be around £100,000. Related bills are available and the car also comes with a V5C Registration Certificate.